A Drunken Mistake?
by thisisnotreal123
Summary: Because it is my birthday, I've decided to treat you to the whole story in one go- but reviews are still welcome.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own any of the CSI: NY characters

**I don't own any of the CSI: NY characters. This chapter is set between 'Taxi' and 'Hostage' and is sort of an alternate to Afterwards- one of my other stories, though this will not be a cross over with New Tricks and I will still be updating it. **

Reed's parents had finally arrived and the doctors has released on the condition that rested for a fortnight and didn't do any strenuous exercise (which included public speaking) for the next three months. As a result, for the first time since the Minicab Killer came to their attention it seemed, Mac and Stella were able to relax.

"He'll be okay; he is Claire's son after all." Mac said, more as a promise to himself than the start of a conversation with Stella. Of course, she knew this, having the inane ability to read him like a book meant she often understood him without him having to say a word- which was good as Mac didn't like to voice his emotions, even to her.

"C'mon, let's get a drink," Stella said, knowing all too well that they both needed one.

Eventually, they found themselves in one of those bars that you never knew existed, but as soon as you enter, you wonder why you haven't been there before. There was some music playing, though not loud enough to make music talking all but impossible and the drinks were- unusually- both good quality and value.

Because of this, both Stella and Mac found themselves on the way to getting drunk rather quickly and Mac, knowing that they would both have to work the next day, called a cab to take them, figuring that it was quicker and cheaper to share, considering that they only lived a couple of blocks from each other. Stella had also realised this and so offered no arguments when Mac told her it was time to go.

As Stella lived closest to the bar, she was the first to be dropped and Mac, being the gentleman he was, walked her to her door. He started to walk away when Stella said so quietly that he thought for a second that he had imagined it, but she repeated it- "stay". He realised that she was probably further on the way to being completely drunk, given that they'd had exactly the same to drink at the bar so decided in an instant that even if he wanted to, he couldn't leave her. He rushed back to the cab and threw a bundle of bills, not caring that he'd probably over paid him before re- joining Stella at her door and guiding her up to her flat.

In the 15 years Mac had known Stella, he'd only seen her drunk a couple of times. Both times she'd ended up getting somewhat 'overemotional' as he'd call it, but she would forget the following day. Just as he was remembering the last time (a rather boring works do, but which had a free bar, if he recalled correctly), Stella started to well up so in order not to cause a scene in her floor's hallway, he used the spare key she'd given him to use in emergencies to open her front door before sitting her down on her bed because she only moved in a couple of weeks before and was still in the process of buying all the new furniture so still didn't have a settee, or any furniture apart from the basics in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

From his previous experience with drunken Stella, he knew that nothing would shake her from this state for a good few hours so he decided just to let her wallow. Unfortunately, this involved a few more glasses of wine, resulting in both Mac and Stella becoming completely plastered so when Stella lunged/fell onto Mac and started to kiss him, with the kiss becoming deeper with every moment that passed, he was in no position to stop her.

**Thanks for reading. Please read and review, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism would also be appreciated. **


	2. Chapter 2

Hope you liked the last chapter- here's the next which one, which kind of covers the events in 'Hostage' from another angle

**Hope you liked the last chapter- here's the next which one, which kind of covers the events in 'Hostage' from another angle. **

**NB: still don't own any of the characters**

The next morning, Mac woke up to his phone ringing. Given that it was still in his trouser pocket- which was still on the floor- he had a race to find and answer it before it woke Stella up- which he won and Stella remained sound asleep.

Mac's face fell when he realised it was a work call (as well as wincing due to his hangover) and even more when he heard what it said.

"Of course I'll be there" Mac said before hanging up.

Stella still showed no sign of waking up so Mac redressed her, as knowing she would have no recollection of the previous evening and would be worried about she got into that situation after the Frankie incident. Mac found some Post-it notes and explained where he'd gone. In the call he'd received, he'd been told not to bring his gun so left it by the note he'd written.

By that time, the kettle had boiled and Mac made himself the largest coffee possible to try to rid of his hangover, which he put in a thermos so he could drink it on the way to the scene.

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An hour after Mac left to go to the bank in a taxi, Stella stirred and immediately felt as if her brain was three times too big for her skull so rolled out of bed and into the kitchen to make herself a very large cup of coffee. That's when she noticed it. She was sure there had had been more coffee left after she last made herself a cuppa, in fact she knew it. What she couldn't remember, however, was who it was who'd taken it, given how drunk she'd ended up the previous evening. This was soon rectified by her discovering Mac's note and gun, which seemingly explained everything, though Mac had left out the bit about the kiss and what had happened afterwards.

Just as she'd finished reading the not, her phone started ringing and she groaned when she realised it was a work call. She could have sworn that she'd a flashback of kissing Mac but erased it from her mind as she answered the call from Flack.

"Hi Stella, we got a scene at the bank on 35th…"

"Mac's already inside and you need the rest of team there?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm psychic- no Mac told me."

"Well, could you phone them and get them to go to the lab so they can process the evidence that Mac's collecting."

"Okay, I'll be down at the bank in 10."

Flack knew better than to tell her she should go to the lab and so just hung up.

Half an hour later and Stella had arrived and been issued with a vest which allowed her to get as close to the bank as the SWAT team were. Of course, this didn't ease the tension an inch because Stella could see Mac and how helpless he now was.

A brief respite came with the arrival of his crime scene photos, which meant that Stella had something to focus on other than Mac being held hostage. The virtual autopsy that Mac had done also helped take Stella's mind off the situation as it meant that she was able to focus on how the victim got there rather than how Mac could get out- something she had no control over. Still, the virtual autopsy meant that Stella was sent to the FBI weapons facility and so away from all the 'action'.

Fortunately, she was able to get access to the weapon and analyse it relatively quickly. Yet, during the video conference with the rest of the team, she got a gut instinct that something bad was about to happen- there had been too many positive breaks in a row.

Sure enough, at the end of the call, an officer came up to Flack and said something to him that couldn't be picked up on the mike.

"What is it, Flack?" she found herself asking, praying that nothing had happened to Mac whilst she had been away.

"It's a double homicide now" Flack paused and Stella felt her legs turn to jelly and on the verge of collapse whilst she relived the nightmare that had been at the back of her mind since she'd left the frontline- Mac had been killed, all the hostages were still in the building and there was nothing they could do to help them escape.

"Officers found the wife of our perp dead 10 minutes"

'Mac was still okay' she thought and she was finally able to breathe again.

Then she saw it, out the corner of her eye. Mac lunged at the attacker, disarming him, using the techniques he'd got from being a Marine. A moment later, all of the hostages came running out of the bank but Mac and the kidnapper remained.

'Mac, c'mon, what are you doing in there? Just get the hell out of there!' Stella thought to herself, again unable to get through to Mac as he started talking to the kidnapper then giving him back the gun.

"WHAT?!" Stella said out loud. Flack heard her and replied "Hey, whatever Mac's done, I'm sure he had his reasons- and a plan" as he guided her back from the front line.

Still, when Mac walked out of the bank with 'Joe' holding a gun to his back, Stella found herself struggling with Flack to try and run after them and rescue Mac and was only stopped by Flack's greater strength and his promise that Mac would be back soon. However, when after a hour of Mac leaving the bank, there was no further news of him, even Flack was forced to admit that there may be a possibility that Mac may have been duped.

By this time Stella had already gone back to the lab, informed the team of the developments and started using the lab equipment to try and find Mac. Still, even when all the team had worked a treble with no results, they were forced to admit defeat and take a break- if only to sleep before starting the cycle again.

Stella had been forced to take temporary leadership of the lab by Gerrard which also meant that she had unlimited access to Mac's office and files (as if she hadn't already) and, like him, had taken to sleeping on the sofa in there most nights to maximise the amount of time she had to look for Mac.

**Thanks for reading, please read and review. **


	3. Chapter 3

Hello there- I hope you like the story so far- if you do have any ideas on how the story should develop, feel free to message me with them

**Hello there- I hope you like the story so far- if you do have any ideas on how the story should develop, feel free to message me with them. Still don't own the CSI: NY characters**

On day 20, it all changed. At first, everything was normal- or at least what had become normal since Mac's disappearance. Then, mid-way through the night shift, the lab got a visitor. He went undetected right up until he got to the door of Mac's office- inside of which Stella was sleeping on the couch again. Lindsay had been running tests on the sole imprints left in between the bank and the car, but when she saw the man, she dropped the test tube, the noise from which woke Stella up and meant she also saw the visitor.

'What?' she thought 'it can't be- this has to a dream.'

As fast as she could, she ran to the door and bear hugged the man standing there.

"It's really you, Mac, you're actually back." Stella paused before slapping him across the face. "If you ever do anything that stupid ever again, God help me as I will not be responsible for my actions."

By this time, Danny and Lindsay had made their way over to the door of Mac's office.

"How...When…What? Mac, you're supposed to have been held hostage by a man who, according to all our technology, doesn't exist!" Lindsay asked ten to the dozen.

Danny interrupted, "Nice welcome back gift, Stella. Do you an ice pack for that, Mac?"

Mac nodded and Danny went over to the morgue, figuring soon as there are freezers there, there would also be ice packs.

"Oh, I should call Flack and tell him of the developments" Lindsay exclaimed and went off to her office to call him, leaving Mac and Stella alone.

"Hey" they both said with tears in their eyes. Mac then guided Stella into his office and sat her down on the couch. "Stell, the night before I was kidnapped, what do you remember?"

"Mac, is this really necessary? Surely how you're feeling and what happened to you is far more important."

"Stell, please, just tell me. What do you remember of that night?"

"Ok, ok. Well, Reed was released from hospital then you and I went to a bar and had a few drinks. After that it gets a bit fuzzy."

Mac, having known Stella for years, was instantly able to see that she knew more than she was letting on.

"Go on."

"We went back to my place and I started crying for no particular reason. We had another bottle of wine. We must have been in my room cos… oh no… you remember it too, don't you?"

"How much do you remember?"

"Well, I kissed you. There was more? How far exactly did we go?" Mac's expression said it all. "No, we can't have. I wrecked our friendship and I can't even remember it."

"Stell, we can work this out. I'm not mad with you and you're still here."

"You don't understand, Mac. I'm late." Stella said, but it was barely a whisper.

Before Mac could respond, Flack arrived with the paramedics and came in.

"Det. Taylor, you need to come with us to the hospital."

Flack said something to the medic that neither Mac nor Stella could pick up, and who then said to Mac, "it will only be quick and Det. Bonasera is welcome to come with you."

"Fine but I'm walking to the ambulance."

Flack and Stella just sighed at Mac's insistence that he was all right, whilst one of the medics gave Mac some oxygen before acting as a human crutch along with Flack to help Mac walk down to the ambulance as despite his insistence that he was perfectly capable of walking by himself, the pallor of his skin said otherwise and he very nearly collapsed in the lift and in reception.

The journey to the hospital was a blur, with Mac having a battery of tests done on him and Stella staring absent mindedly out the window. However, just as they turned into the hospital, the technician called through to the back saying that there was press at the entrance then radioed through to the reception saying "Code Blue".

"What's code blue?" Mac asked.

"Well, basically, just that we try to get you away from the media by- as far as possible- keeping you away from the other patients and getting test results back quicker."

"Free upgrade" Mac and Stella said together before smiling at each other at the fact that they'd read each other's minds (again).

Sure enough, Mac was seen and treated in double quick time and was found to only have mild dehydration and malnourishment so would need to stay in hospital for a couple of days for observation but nothing more. Flack had been allowed in to get a statement off Mac about what had happened.

'Joe', it turned out, was part of an extremist animal rights group who had kidnapped Mac because the lab used techniques and chemicals that had been tested on animals and wanted to make Mac aware of the fact. All the group were also raw vegans so for the last three weeks, Mac had only been able to eat raw fruit and vegetables, with river water to drink **(by the way, raw vegans do not drink river water, it's just this extremist group who do)**. The group also lived in campervans and had moved round constantly so Mac was unable to give a location of where they might be now. However, the campervans were also how Mac had managed to escape. He'd stolen one the previous day and drove until the fuel ran out (about a block or two from the lab). He'd walked the rest of the way- quite a feat when he'd only eaten 500 calories that day, and the same for the previous 3 weeks.

After the interview, Flack left to try and find the campervan that Mac had used to get back, leaving Mac and Stella alone again.

"What do you want to do?" Mac asked

Stella shrugged, but the tears in her eyes showed Mac everything.

"You do know that if you have the baby, I'll be there every step of the way, Stell?" he asked, lifting up her head "So, what do you want to do?"

"I want to be a mum more than anything."

"Then that's settled."

"You don't want me to do a test to be sure?"

"You haven't already?"

Stella shook her head. "I've never been regular and I just thought I was coming down with the flu or that the stress of your kidnapping was getting to me. Give me credit, Mac- I didn't even know we'd slept together until a couple of hours ago."

"Well, there's a 24 hour pharmacy round the block- why don't you go there and make sure?"

"Okay. I'll be back in 10."

Sure enough, 10 minutes later- to the second- Stella re-entered Mac's room with two pregnancy tests that had obviously been used then put back into their boxes.

"So?"

"Would you be mad with me if I told you that I hadn't looked at them yet?"

"Actually, I would expect it of you- you're too selfless and wouldn't want to know without me knowing too."

Stella smiled- Mac almost knew her better than she knew herself, however corny that sounds.

"Shall we then?" She said, handing Mac one of the boxes.

"On three…1, 2…3"

"Positive", "pregnant" they said at the same time before turning and grinning at each other.

"I can't believe there's a baby in here." Stella said as she put a hand to her (still flat) stomach.

"Me neither, but give it nine months and it will be all too real." Mac replied, half smiling still.

"Oh my gosh" Stella said suddenly, "what about the team? How are we going to tell them? What are they going to think?"

"Hey, we'll cross that bridge when we need to. First though, you need to see a doctor."

"It's the middle of the night, Mac, it can wait until tomorrow."

"But there's no time like the present- NURSE"

One of the night nurses came rushing in.

"Sorry to worry you, Nurse…"

"Nurse Cook."

"Nurse Cook, but Det. Bonasera over there needs to make an appointment with an antenatal consultant and I was wondering…"

"Consider it done, Det. Taylor."

"Mac!"

"What?"

"There was no need for that and you know it."

"Well, if I have got myself a free upgrade then I might as well make the most of it."

**Please read and review, will be updating as soon as I get five for this chapter as the next one is already written- though its contents are yet to be revealed. Hehe. **


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all your reviews, hope you like the story so far

**Thanks for all your reviews, hope you like the story so far. **

Of course, the antenatal consultant wasn't in until the next morning, but Stella was top of her list and Mac was given permission by the ward sister to go down with Stella to the maternity clinic.

"Hello Ms Bonasera. First of all can I have some basic details?"

"Course"

"When was the date of your last period?"

"Erm, the 20th I think"

"And do you know the date of conception?"

"Yes, it was the 7th."

"Okay, well that gives you a due date of the 17th February. Now could you come with me please to be weighed and be examined?"

"Sure"

The two women seemed to be away for a long time, according to Mac, and his mind started to run through all the horrible things that could have happened to her in that time so that by the time she did reappear, along with the doctor, he was trembling, though not noticeably.

"I'm in perfect health" Stella stated as she wheeled Mac back to his room "though she did say that the morning sickness might worsen in the next few weeks and I may become easily tired, especially as the adrenaline will stop."

"Do you want to be put on permanent day shift for the next few months?"

"And work with those anoraks? No way, no, I'm sure I'll cope."

"Okay, but you said it, not me."

The next day Mac was released from hospital and, instead of staying at home like he was told to, came into work as normal.

"Whoa there Mac, you sure you want to be here?" Danny said on seeing him arrive.

"Hello to you too, Messer and yes I do want to be here."

"Your words, not mine, Mac" to which Mac just smiled.

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A month later, it was Independence Day and the team arranged to meet in Central Park for a picnic and games to celebrate, which was a lab tradition that Mac had started when he took over leadership of the lab. Danny, Lindsay and Flack (who had been invited, along with Angell, as honorary members of the team) were the first to arrive and had already set up the rugs by the time that Mac and Stella arrived, closely followed by Hawkes, Adam and Angell.

Everybody had- as usual- brought far too much food for 10 people, but given Danny and Flack were there, none of it went to waste. It was during the picnic that Stella got out of her bag a small white box and handed it to Mac.

"What's this?" he asked, bemused at the sudden generosity of his friend.

"Open it and see." She replied.

Inside the box was what looked like a digital clock with a frame and had a baby boy and girl on it.

"What's this?" Mac asked again, still puzzled by the present.

"Read the manual." Stella replied, half smiling, half frustrated at his typical manliness. Mac didn't get beyond the title before he started grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What is it, Mac?" Lindsay asked

"It's a countdown clock."

"Countdown to what?"

"Until the day my child's due." Mac replied.

"Whoa there, did I hear that right? Is Mac Taylor going to be a dad?"

"Sure did kiddo."

Flack interrupted, "one thing, who's the mummy?"

Mac's brief look over to Stella gave the game away.

"No way, that's just… that's just not possible." Danny exclaimed

"Okay, but how long you been together, seriously, we haven't noticed anything, have we guys?" Hawkes asked as the rest of the team shook their heads.

"Erm, well, we're not actually a couple." Mac said looking distinctly embarrassed.

"What? So how…?" Danny asked before Lindsay interrupted "Let Stella explain."

"Erm, well," Stella was clearly finding this no easier than Mac, "it wasn't planned. We sorta had drunk a lot of alcohol and before we knew it…" Stella trailed off, unwilling to go into anymore detail

"Damn it! I thought I had won the bet as well."

"What bet?" Mac and Stella said together.

Now it was Danny's turn to be embarrassed "Theoneonhowlongitwouldtakeforyoutwotogettogether." He mumbled. On seeing Mac and Stella's confused expressions, Lindsay said "I don't think they could hear you Cowboy, better speak up before Mac puts you on a disciplinary" which only served to make Danny go even redder.

"The bet- which I didn't start- was on how long it would take for you to become an item." Danny eventually replied.

"I take it you were all involved, given the guilty faces I see" Mac stated to which everyone- bar Stella of course- nodded. "Right then, here's what going to happen. All money, and I mean every last cent, will go to the charity of our choice and the same will also happen to any other bets that are going on in the lab. Afterwards, there are not to be any more bets done in the lab- understand?" Everyone nodded again.

After that incident, the mood became more serious for all of a minute before Lindsay asked "So, you never told us when the baby's due, Stella."

"Oh, it's the 17th February." With this, Danny and Lindsay looked at each other before she nodded and Danny said, "Shame cos ours is due on 31st January" with a completely straight face.

It took a moment for what Danny had said to register with the team but then they all started talking at the same time.

"One at a time!" Mac said, after a minute of them all chatting away "Hawkes"

"You do know that there's an 11 day overlap where both of the babies could be born on the same day."

"What? Oh Mac please let us have a bet on that, please." Danny said

Mac sighed before saying, "Well, you'll have to ask Stella and Lindsay first cos it's about them."

"Go on then," Stella said whilst Lindsay answered, "Put 10 on them both arriving on the 8th" to which everyone laughed.

**Did you like it? Please review and tell me. Also review/ message me if you have any ideas for baby names.**


	5. Chapter 5

The next few months went relatively smoothly

The next few months went relatively smoothly with both Lindsay and Stella eventually agreeing to come off field duty at six months and though Lindsay wanted to take maternity leave from 36 weeks, Stella was determined to work right up until she went into labour, which Mac thought was crazy but knew better than to say so.

One wall of the break wall had been given over to the 'lab babies' with scans, stats, pictures of the two bumps and a diary of sorts of when major things would be happening such as the baby being able to hear and kick, etc. (compiled, of course, by Hawkes) making up the majority of its contents. The lab bets had also restarted, of course, but now focused almost entirely around the Bonasera-Taylor and Messer babies, especially as neither couple had said what gender they were having or opted for elective C-section.

The two women had also grown closer as they regularly went shopping together for maternity clothes (figuring that as they would only be wearing them for 4 to 6 months maximum, it was better to share and split cost, especially as they turned out to be the same size) and baby stuff.

Mac had eventually convinced Stella to move with him into a house in the suburbs as neither of their apartments had enough room for both of them and a baby. Plus, the house had enough space for each of them to have a wing each, with their own bedroom, bathroom and lounge. The house was ready by Christmas so they had the team round to celebrate and as a sort of baby shower but as men were coming, it could hardly be a proper one.

After a tour of the house which mainly consisted of the team cooing over the room that would become the baby's nursery when it was born, they sat down for a traditional Christmas lunch, trimmings and all, which Stella proud of having prepared herself for the first time. However, five minutes into the meal and Mac, Danny and Hawkes' phones all started ringing. They instantly knew what this meant and so within 10 minutes, it was only Lindsay and an emotional Stella left.

"Hey, don't be upset. They couldn't help being called to a scene."

"It's just that it's Christmas and it feels as if it's been ruined without them even having had my dinner."

They were interrupted by Mac ringing to say they needed to come down to the lab.

When the two women arrived, they were told to go to Mac's office, where he and Danny, along with Gerrard already were.

"Please sit," Gerrard said as if it were his office "as you referring to Danny and Mac are already aware, we are treating the vic this morning as the _possible _third victim of a serial."

"Let me guess: you would Stella or Lindsay to go undercover to find out who the murderer is and how he lures his victims." Mac interrupted

"Yes but…"

"But nothing, I will not allow you to do this."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice" Gerrard replied with a sneer. "All the victims have in common is that they all had professional photos taken by a Mr Edward Smith, who seems to specialise in pregnant women. All their photos were taken after 30 weeks, and Det. Bonasera and Monroe are the only two women in the police department at that stage of gestation."

"Could you please leave whilst we discuss this?" Mac replied, feeling deflated at the lack of choice he had but refusing to show it.

"I'd like to stay." Gerrard replied

"This is my office, if you haven't noticed so I choose who comes, who stays and who leaves so get out," Mac replied, getting angrier by the second. Gerrard knew better than to stay and exited quickly.

"I'm so sorry. I really didn't know anything about this," Mac said to the two women.

"We know, Mac, but one of them got to do it." Danny replied.

"I'll do it," Stella said, firmly

"No, Stell, I will" Lindsay said just as determinedly.

"Linds, you're two weeks further along so if anything happens then it's less likely to make the baby come early."

"No, Stell cos if anything does bring on labour, it would for both of us and my baby would stand a better chance of survival as it's two weeks older."

The debate went on for the next ten minutes, with each woman defiant that she should do it until Danny recommend that they finish the argument with a round of rock, paper, scissors with the loser going undercover- which was Stella. Mac phoned Gerrard to tell him the result, then the two couples each went to their homes.

"Mac, I'll be fine. It's not as if it's the first time I've been undercover."

"But our baby's live will be in danger too, not just yours."

"Mac, we've both had training on how to deal with undercover situations and anyway, with all the surveillance and equipment, I will hardly be alone."

"You didn't see the bodies." Mac said, though it was barely audible as he thought if he spoke any louder, he'd burst into tears at the thought of that happening to his best friend and child.

"Mac, listen to me. That will not happen to me. Understand? The surveillance will pick up on anything untoward and they will send in back up to get our baby and I out of there in an instant, 'kay?" to which he nodded.

Two weeks later, and it was time for Stella to go undercover. Edward Smith's studio was located in the centre of Manhattan and they'd arranged for Stella to go from a safe house three doors down to the studio so that she could be given all the equipment there. Mac had managed to negotiate his way onto the surveillance van so he could see what was going on in real time, but he'd 'forgotten' to tell Stella this as he knew she'd say that it was unnecessary and she was in perfectly good hands already.

The first part of the photo shoot was as normal, and Stella even found herself starting to enjoy it but then Edward started to ask too personal questions and Stella found herself becoming embarrassed, though there was nothing she could do to stop him as it wasn't criminal so she just started praying for it to be all over with.

It all happened so quickly. He was taking photos one second then the next he was at her throat with a knife, threatening to cut it if she said a peep (not that anyone would have been able to hear her as he'd sound proofed the walls). She was able to squeak the code word "Venice" and in a second all the backup came flooding into the room and he was arrested. Stella felt her legs go as she started to realise how close she'd come to harm but before she hit the ground, she was caught from behind and found herself looking up at none other than Mac.

"Are you okay? You don't feel funny? Is the baby still kicking?"

"Hummm?" Stella said, still in a daze as she was still feeling light headed and in shock. Knowing that it was unlike Stella to be unable to speak coherently, Mac immediately got the medics that had been on standby to check her over then take her to hospital. However, by the time Stella was in the ambulance, she was back to her usual self and protesting that it was completely unnecessary, but Mac was refusing to listen to her, "Stell, you came that close to being seriously hurt/ killed today. I don't care what you think you need, you need to be checked up to make sure the baby's ok," he responded after Stella threatened to run out of ER as soon as she arrived. As it turned out, Stella was right and she and the baby were completely unharmed by the experience. Just to prove her point, she went back to work that afternoon, much to Mac's distain, until she pointed out he'd do exactly the same thing so there was no point being pissed off by it.

A week later and the team were all on a rest day. However, Mac's phone started ringing half way through breakfast with the tone he reserved for work/ colleagues at which Stella moaned.

"Hello…okay…for how long…no, I understand…of course…bye" Mac said before hanging up and going back to eating his meal.

"Well? When are you leaving for the scene?" Stella questioned him from across the table.

"Oh, that wasn't Gerrard, Stell"

"Ok."

"It was Danny. Lindsay's gone into labour though they don't think the baby will come until the evening." He managed to say with a completely straight face.

"You what? Can we go see them tonight?"

"Don't you think it would be better to leave it until tomorrow morning so they can have some rest?"

"S'ppose."

Mac and Stella eventually agreed to go shopping as she kept bugging him to check his phone just in case he had and missed calls even though he phone wasn't on silent and he was checking it every five minutes anyway. Retail therapy did seem to take Stella's mind off the impending birth for all of 5 minutes before she returned to bugging Mac for news so he ended up just giving her his phone so she would be able answer the call.

After an hour, they decided to stop at a café for lunch and were halfway through their meals when Mac's phone started ringing in Stella's handbag.

"Hello...ooh…of course…cya, bye." Stella said as Mac raised an eyebrow, which Stella knew meant he wanted to know too.

"They've had a little boy, 7lbs 2oz but haven't decided on a name yet," she said grinning.

That evening, Mac and Stella paid Danny and Lindsay a visit at the hospital and cooed over their newborn son.

"Do you have any ideas yet?" Stella asked.

"Stell!" Mac said

"We were thinking of Jamie or Oliver but he doesn't look like either of them."

"I know what he looks like- but I don't know if you'll like it."

"Go on" Danny said, curious as to Stella's idea

"What about Daniel? I mean, I know it's your name too, Danny but he could Dan and he does look like a Daniel."

"Daniel" Lindsay said quietly "it sounds so right, please Danny, can we?"

"Of course we can, Montana. Now I think Daniel Mac Messer wants to meet his Uncle Mac and Auntie Stella." Danny said as he handed his son over to Mac, who now 'had something in his eye'.

"Mac and Stella, would you like to be Dan's godparents?" Lindsay asked them.

"We'd be honoured and you must bring him to the lab sometime, I'm sure he'll want to meet all his other aunts and uncles." Stella answered for them both.


	6. Chapter 6

A month later Lindsay and Danny finally brought Dan into the lab

A month later Lindsay and Danny finally brought Dan into the lab. Even though it was three days before Stella's due date she was working, although Mac was now keeping a very close eye on what she was doing and every single time she even seemed to be in pain, he was by her side in an instant just in case the baby was coming, though it showed no sign of doing so anytime soon.

As soon as Stella saw the couple arrive, she was by their side in a moment to coo over the baby, though her size meant that she was unable to pick Dan up. Mac had let the team have their break early so they could all come to see Messer Jr. Hawkes even brought his camera from his kit to take pictures so that they could update the break room wall, which still only had ultrasound scans of him up.

With the whole team gathered round the newborn, it wasn't long before Dan woke up and started crying. Lindsay picked him up and joked to Mac "Do you want him? You'll need the practise." However, Mac then realised that they were one member short.

"Where's Stella?" The whole team shrugged- in cooing over Dan, none of them had noticed Stella slip away. Mac thanked God for the glass walls in the lab as it meant he could immediately see that she wasn't in any of the offices or the layout room from the break room so he headed straight for the ladies' loos and knocked on the door.

"Stell, you in there? We're missing you in the break room." He could hear someone walking towards the door then Stella's head popped round it "My waters' just broke." She said in a voice unlike any he heard her use before- she was, for the first time in the 15 years he'd known her, scared.

"Can I come in?"

"There's water all over my trousers"

"Do you have a spare?"

She shook her head, "Now that I'm on desk duty I figured that I wouldn't need them."

"I'll ask Lindsay if she still has a pair in her locker."

Mac jogged back over to break room and pulled Lindsay over to one side, which was easier now that she'd given Dan to Hawkes.

"Do you still have a spare pair of maternity trousers in your locker?"

Lindsay thought for a second before nodding.

"Could you lend them to Stella, please?"

"Why… oh my, she has, hasn't she?" Mac nodded. "But please don't tell anyone just yet- I don't think that she'd like everyone crowding round the ladies' toilets."

"I'll go get them from my locker then give them to her now."

"Thank you so much." He said as they started walking towards the locker room

"No worries, Mac. By the way, can I say you're a lot calmer than Danny was when I went into labour with Dan? He was running round like a headless chicken!"

"I don't feel calm."

A couple of minutes later, Stella had got changed and Lindsay went back to the break room so as not raise anyone's suspicions whilst Mac stayed with Stella.

"C'mon, Stell, we need to get out of here."

"But it hurts!"

"But I'm not having my child born in the toilets at work! C'mon." Mac helped Stella to her feet as they came out of the bathroom, Stella realised she'd left her bag in the break room, where all the team still were. Mac sat her down on a chair in the corridor before rushing into the room and collecting it himself then rushing back to her. The team didn't realise anything was up until Danny saw Mac becoming a human crutch for Stella and Lindsay confirmed his suspicions.

Whilst Mac and Stella were driving to the hospital, Mac started quizzing her on how long she'd been in labour and wasn't surprised at all when she said that it was probably at least the last six hours, i.e. since she'd woken up, though it did make him put his foot on the accelerator a little more. Sure enough as soon as they arrived in hospital Stella was taken into the delivery room as she was already ready to push. Mac only just had enough time to put on scrubs so that he could be in the delivery room too before their little girl was born, at which point both Mac and Stella started crying tears of happiness at the bundle of joy they had made, albeit by accident. Mac cut the cord as their daughter was placed on Stella's chest.

"We'd made her, she's so perfect, she's ours" was all either of them could get out for the next five minutes, still in awe of their daughter before Stella asked, "What are we going to call her? And before you ask, no we are not calling her Stella or Mackenzie."

"No, I have a better idea. What about Mia Carmen Bonasera-Taylor?"

"Why Mia Carmen?"

"It means 'my beloved' and she is, well, she's our beloved, and her name will remind all of us of that every day."

"That's beautiful" Stella said before starting to cry in happiness then falling asleep. Shortly afterwards, Mac got a text from Danny: _hi nu daddy, dets n pic plz _to which the reply was: _The most beautiful and amazing girl, Mia Carmen Bonasera-Taylor was born today at 1330. 5lb 5oz. Mum & baby perfect. _And included a picture of Mia sleeping. Half a minute later, Mac got a reply saying: _Wrapped round her little finger._

The morning after Mia was born, Stella was adamant she was ready to go home and because both she and her daughter were the picture of health, there was no argument that Mac or the hospital could use to keep her there which is why they were driving down 25th just as Danny's car pulled up on the opposite side, next to a cordon.

"No, Mac."

"What?"

"We are not stopping, just so you can get an 'update'. I know your kits in the boot and as soon as you get there you'll feel you have to work it."

"Ohhh" Mac whined

"And anyway, you're on paternity leave for the next two weeks"

"What? Why?"

"Cos otherwise you'd be at work the whole time! And I know you've connected the home computer to your work one anyway so it's not like you'll be out of the loop."

Mac didn't actually go on the computer for the whole two weeks as he was too enthralled by his daughter. Every time she woke up, he would too- even if it wasn't his turn to feed her- every time her nappy needed changing, he was there to help, and every time she needed to go to sleep, he was there singing her a lullaby (very well actually, Stella never realised how good his singing voice was).

When it was time for Mac to go back to work (Stella was on leave for three months, after which they'd agreed to put Mia in the NYPD day nursery, which was in the actual police building so only police or nursery staff could get anywhere near the place. As both Stella and Mac had both been held hostage at least once in the last two years, they wanted to take every precaution against that happening to their daughter) he did so grudgingly and for the whole of the first day sat in office, calling Stella every five minutes to find out what Mia was doing, which pissed her off big time and they ended up agreeing to put up a webcam network in the house so that he could see what was going on whilst at work.

On hearing about this, Danny also got Lindsay to agree to have a webcam so he could see Dan whilst he was working and Adam managed to get Danny and Mac's BlackBerry's could also access the web cams but no body else on any computer could. They'd also decided to put Daniel in the NYPD day nursery, but not until he was 6 months as that would be when Lindsay would come back to work.


End file.
